Tomorrow and Saturday, November 6 and 7, two of Panama City's best-loved fall events run on the same nights. The 13th Annual Public Eye Soar Projection and Light Festival projects art onto the buildings at Gulf Coast State College from 6 to 10 p.m. both nights. Meanwhile the 8th Annual Panama City Songwriters Festival fills Historic Downtown with songwriter rounds.
The two events are set up differently, and that's what makes room for both. The Songwriters ticket covers both days, and its rounds start in the late afternoon. Public Eye Soar is free and runs until 10. If you plan around those two facts, you can do the whole weekend.
The Songwriters Festival Is a Two-Day Pass Now
When the News Herald previewed the 2022 festival, it described the event as free. That's changed for 2026. The official festival ticket page lists two options:
- General Admission, $60 plus a $1.50 service fee. Access to all venues for both days.
- VIP, $100 plus a $2.50 service fee. All-venue access, two free drink tickets per day, VIP seating where available, a VIP-only Friday after-party with food, and Saturday after-party access.
The money goes to youth music programs run by the Bay Youth Music Association. Either ticket is good for both days. That's the detail that matters this weekend, because it means you don't have to spend both evenings downtown to get your money's worth.
The festival page shows a start of 5:00 p.m. on November 6 and an end of 10:00 p.m. on November 7, with 19 E. 4th Street as the address of record. That's the Panama City Center for the Arts, one of six venues downtown. Destination Panama City says all the venues are within walking distance of each other.
How the Rounds Are Built
The 2026 artist lineup lists 46 songwriters and doesn't name a headliner. They mostly play in pairs and trios across the six rooms, and each round starts at a slightly different time. The posted festival schedule starts Friday at 4:45 p.m. with Morgan Simo, Todd Sentilles, and Shaun Streeter at the Panama City Center for the Arts. Another block on the same page runs in three waves:
| Venue | First wave | Second wave | Third wave |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Portal Downtown | 5:00 · Leana Carter, Gage Cowart | 6:30 · Jessie Ritter, Hanson LeBoeuf | 8:00 · Lauren Woodall, Jeff Bouet |
| Trigo Courtyard | 5:00 · Dailen Spencer, Avery Gipson, Sammy Shepard | 6:30 · Weston T Hine, Logan Pilcher | 8:00 · Harrison McInnis, Zoe Howard |
| Panama City Center for the Arts | 5:10 · Corey Hall, Michael R. J. Roth | 6:40 · Daniel Phipps, James Gregory | 8:10 · Tom Lennon |
| Downtown Boxing Ring | 5:15 · Garrett Jay Brown, Stevie Jean | 6:45 · Cat Ridgeway, Atticus Roness | 8:15 · Lauren Frihauf, Hannah Stokes |
| Lightroom | 5:15 · Becca Tremmel, Adia Clark Lay | 6:45 · Sophie Seng, Johnny Hayes | 8:15 · Shelby Natasha, Melissa Joiner |
| Atelier | 5:30 · Chris Nelson, Sara Jean Kelley | 7:00 · Jared Daws, Mitch Clark, Great Aunt | 8:30 · Thomas Allain, Remy Reilly |
Check pcsongwriters.com to see which night each round falls on before you go. The pattern is the useful part either way. Start times sit about 90 minutes apart. Within each wave, the six rooms open within half an hour of each other. Every wave has fresh pairings.
The rooms are part of the fun. The Portal Downtown's map listing calls it a spot for board games and dirty sodas. Trigo is a San Francisco–style deli, and its courtyard is the stage. Atelier is at 100 Harris Avenue. One pass gets you into a gallery, a deli courtyard, a boxing ring, and a game room, all on the same few blocks.
Public Eye Soar Stays Free, and It Runs Until 10
Public Eye Soar works differently. It's free and open to the public, paid for by presenting sponsors St. Joe Community Foundation, Gulf Coast State College, Chevron, Destination Panama City, and The Charles A. Whitehead Foundation. The Bay County Chamber's event listing says nearly 200 artists from around the world and the local arts community are taking part this year. Their work is projected onto the college's buildings at 5230 W. Hwy. 98.
Returning favorites include Sand Art, the Ceramics Rave Room, The Yellow Room, the Shadow Dome, and JD's Fun House, along with live music, dance, and interactive pieces for all ages. Over its 13 years, the festival has turned buildings across Bay County into an outdoor gallery, with hundreds of artists contributing thousands of works.
The Veterans Honor Wall is back for both nights. It shows veterans' photos with short descriptions, usually name, rank, branch of service, and years served. Submissions for 2026 are now closed, so what's on the wall this weekend is what families sent in ahead of time.
There's no ticket to buy, and the show runs until 10 p.m. both nights. So you can show up whenever you like, including late after a night downtown. For parking and day-of changes, Panama City Daily's festival guide suggests checking the festival's Facebook page before you head out.
Fitting Both Into One Weekend
Put the two schedules side by side and the weekend comes together. Songwriters rounds start in the late afternoon, as early as 4:45 p.m. on Friday. In the three-wave block above, the last wave starts between 8:00 and 8:30. Public Eye Soar opens at 6 and keeps going until 10, and it costs nothing to stop by twice. Here are three ways to plan it:
- Split by night. Spend one evening downtown with your two-day pass, catching the 5:00, 6:30, and 8:00 waves. Give the other evening to Gulf Coast State College. This makes the most of the pass and gives each festival a full night.
- Stack one night. See the first wave or two downtown, then drive west on U.S. 98 to the college for the second half of the projection hours. Because the last Songwriters wave starts by 8:30 and Soar runs until 10, you can still do both in one evening if you leave the late rounds for the other night.
- Go to Soar twice. Since it's free, you can catch the Veterans Honor Wall and the returning rooms on Friday and come back Saturday for whatever you missed. Use your Songwriters pass in the late afternoon before heading to the college.
VIP holders have one more thing to plan around. The VIP-only after-party on Friday includes food, and the Saturday after-party is open to VIP too. If you bought VIP, you'll probably want to stay downtown on the night you plan to use it.
The Calendar Keeps Going
The Center for the Arts at 19 E. 4th Street isn't done after Saturday. Bay Arts Alliance's #ArtCityPC local artist expo and holiday bazaar opens there with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 12, and the exhibition runs through December 19. It's worth confirming the reception time with Bay Arts Alliance before that Thursday.
If the Veterans Honor Wall is what brings you to Gulf Coast State College, the next event for honoring veterans is the following Wednesday. Bay County's Veterans Day Parade on November 11 runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon. It starts at Frankford Avenue and 12th Street in St. Andrews and heads east along 11th Street to the Government Center at 840 W. 11th Street, with a wreath-laying planned for 10 a.m.
If your business or group wants a spot in the Downtown Christmas Parade on December 5, the City of Panama City's calendar shows parade registration closing November 15. The route runs from the Downtown City Marina up Harrison Avenue to Tommy Oliver Stadium.
If you're figuring out which part of Panama City puts you closest to the Center for the Arts, the Trigo courtyard, or the Gulf Coast State College campus, The Sostheim Group knows these blocks well and is happy to talk it through. Contact Us.
